Exemplary campuses
but Acceptable district
Q: All the campuses
in our district are Exemplary or Recognized, but
the district is rated Acceptable. How can that be?
A: It is often the
case that individual schools have higher ratings than their district
because there are fewer students at the school level. That is, while
schools and districts are held accountable for the performance of
every student group, the student group must have at least 30 students
to be considered in the ratings system. For that reason an elementary
schools might only be judged on 7 or 8 indicators because they only
had a handful of students taking (for example) 5th grade TAKS science,
but at the district level, where science is tested in grades 5,
10, and 11, there are enough students in each group, so the district
is held accountable for the performance of every student group in
science.
Also, elementary and middle schools are not accountable for the
Completion Rate indicator. As a result, districts are more likely
to be held accountable for all 36 indicators, while many schools
are held accountable to fewer than 10 indicators.
Q: I carefully checked
the performance of my district on every indicator, and it appears
they should be rated Recognized, but the state rated them
Acceptable. How can this be?
A: Districts whose
performance is at the Recognized or Exemplary
level can be held to a rating of Academically Acceptable
for several reasons:
- Any district that has one or more campuses rated Academically
Unacceptable cannot receive a rating of Exemplary
or Recognized.
- Districts are required to report the "leaver" status
of all grade 7-12 students who were enrolled at any time in the
prior year (2003-04) but who did not continue in the current year
(2004-05). These students may have left the district because they
graduated, transferred to another district, dropped out, or some
other reason. When districts fail to provide a leaver record for a student who
is no longer in enrollment, TEA counts him or her as underreported.
In order to maintain a rating of Exemplary or Recognized,
districts must not exceed the accountability standards for underreporting
students.
- Districts are held responsible for the performance of all their
students, including those who attend campuses that do not receive
a regular rating, such as a Juvenile Justice Alternative Education
Program.
Please see the 2005 Accountability
Manual for more information on student groups and minimum
size requirements (Chapter 2), underreported leavers (Chapter 3),
and additional students in district ratings (Chapter 3).
Comparing TAKS performance from 2004
to TAKS performance from 2005
Q: I checked the
2004 TAKS performance shown on the 2005 Data Tables with that shown
on the 2003-04 AEIS reports, and the numbers don't match. Why is
this?
A: In order to allow
for "apples to apples" comparison, the 2004 TAKS results
were recomputed to match the 2005 standards. For this reason, the
results shown on the 2005 data tables may differ in a number of
ways from the AEIS reports:
- Different Passing Standard. In order to allow for
Required Improvement to be applied fairly, the 2004 TAKS results
were recomputed using the 2005 passing standards. In 2004, the
passing standard for TAKS in grades 3-10 was 1 Standard Error
of Measurement (SEM) below Panel Recommendation (PR); for grade
11, the passing standard was 2 SEM below PR. For 2005, the passing
standard for grades 3-10 was PR and for grade 11 it was 1 SEM
below PR.
- Summed Across Grades. Only performance "summed
across all grades" is used for accountability purposes.
The AEIS reports provide grade-level performance as well as
performance summed across grades. The closest comparison to
the 2004 performance used for 2005 accountability is that shown
in the section in the AEIS reports titled:
TAKS Met Standard
(Sum of All Grades Tested)
(Panel Recommendation)
Mobility
Q: What happens when
a student comes to my school just a week before the TAKS test? We
try hard to get them ready for the tests, but it's difficult with
so little time. Will their performance affect our rating?
A: No, students who
change schools after the PEIMS snapshot date (end of October) and
before the date of testing are taken out of the accountability subset.
Please see Chapter 2, Table 3 in the 2005
Accountability Manual for a complete explanation.
Masking
Q: Why does the
data table for my school show >99% under Percent Met Standard?
I know that 100% of the students passed that test!
A: The accountability
data tables now employ more masking of assessment data than has
been used in the past, in order to comply with the federal Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). For more detailed information,
please see the Explanation of Masking.
Overall Information
Q: I'm doing research
and would appreciate information that provides a larger view of
the ratings. Is that available?
A: Please refer to
the Highlights document
(downloadable PDF) for a statewide perspective on how Texas performed
in 2005.
2005 Accountability
| Performance Reporting
|
